Philippines President Duterte injured in road mishap
Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hurt his hip and suffered scratches in a motorcycle accident, senior aides of the 74-year-old leader said Thursday.
Duterte, whose health has been the subject of intense public speculation, suffered the mishap at the Malacanang presidential palace compound late Wednesday, according to spokesman Salvador Panelo.
The crash came 10 days after Duterte -- the oldest person to be elected Philippine president -- disclosed he is suffering from myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that could potentially have serious complications.
"The president was reaching for his shoe when he fell off his motorycle that resulted in a minor injury, particularly light bruises and slight scratches, to his elbow and knee," Panelo said in a statement.
Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, his former assistant and close aide, earlier told reporters Duterte had "crashed" and complained of hip pain after the accident, but was not hospitalised.
Panelo, citing Duterte's girlfriend Cielito "Honeylet" Avancena, said the president's injury will not require major treatment and "there is nothing to worry about". Duterte was trying to park the vehicle after driving around a courtyard Panelo said, adding the leader was now resting at the palace.
Go later shared a video showing Duterte, wearing formal clothes -- without a helmet or other protective gear -- driving riding on a paved drive at night. The actual accident was not shown in the clip.
Panelo declined to explain why there were two versions of the accident, stressing: "Whatever the story is, what is important is he is in good hands -- no major injury."
Questions about his health have swirled since he took office in 2016, with Duterte at times skipping events and meetings or discussing his various ailments during long and rambling speeches.
The Philippine constitution requires the handover of power to the vice president if the leader dies or is incapacitated, Duterte revealed in 2016 that he used to take fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, because of a spinal injury from motorcycle accidents.
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Pakistan forces kill 67 Afghan Taliban personnel in overnight operations: Minister
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan security forces killed another 67 Afghan Taliban personnel in overnight operations, repulsing their attacks at 16 locations along the southwestern border early Tuesday, officials said.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar provided updates on the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil Haq, launched on Feb 26 in response to the Afghan Taliban raids.
Tarar said that 40 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed in overnight operations in the border region along the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Physical attack was attempted at one place, while a fire raid was conducted on 12 locations, which were all repulsed without any loss of life,” he said in an update posted on X.
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“At least 40 Afghan Taliban were killed in the overnight operations in KP,” he said, adding that “follow-up” operations continued.
Separately, the Afghan Taliban resorted to physical attack from across the border on 16 locations in Northern Balochistan in Qilla Saifullah, Noshki and Chaman districts while engaging Pakistan troops on 25 locations in a fire raid.
“The attacks at all the locations were repulsed with Afghan Taliban suffering 27 killed and scores injured,” he said.
The minister also said that one soldier of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan North was killed while five soldiers were injured.
On Monday, the minister said in a statement that Pakistani security forces killed 435 Afghan Taliban combatants and another 630 of them were injured. He said that 188 tanks and armoured vehicles were destroyed, 31 Afghan posts were captured and 51 locations across Afghanistan were successfully targeted in air strikes.
Meanwhile, state-run PTV reported that the Pakistan armed forces successfully conducted an air operation in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, destroying the Khogani base.
“Fitna al-Khawarij and Afghan Taliban face massive setbacks on every front after unprovoked aggression,” PTV reported, citing sources.
It further reported that security sources said Operation Ghadab-ul-Haq is still ongoing and will continue until its objectives are achieved.
